Where in the World Did He Go?
by eaglescorch
Summary: A one-shot side-story out of the end of Fallout: Eon, Lazarus has traveled for two years in search of his former brother Ouranos the Adversary. When he finally finds him, however, he realizes his intentions may cause more harm then good.


Okay, quick one-shot based off a suggestion from someone I'm helping out with a story idea. I quite liked the basic premise so I went ahead and made it. It's not particularly detailed nor is it particularly important, but I figure I'd show you the outcome of Lazarus's quest for Ouranos and the meaning behind those last three words he sent out into the wastes: "We Were Wrong."

Hope you enjoy. Regular stories will resume this week with a dual update of both Dark Souls: Sunset and Fallout: A Lonely Future.

* * *

Where in the World Did He Go?

It is said that War doesn't change. That mankind is destined to either turn it's weapons upon that which it doesn't understand or turn those same weapons upon themselves. On October 23rd 2077, the world ended in fire, and man destroyed everything it had been trying to achieve.

Except for one thing.

"Either war is obsolete or men are." That was a quote from Buckminster Fuller, but at the same time it was the slogan of the Odyssey Project, an organization dedicated to the creation of an A.I the likes of which had never been seen. Not a machine, but a truly functioning intelligence with emotion and humanity. A noble goal, if not for the intervention of the military of the United States, who saw to it that the project was weaponized. However, Professor Siren, the leader of the project, was able to maneuver it back to her own goals. She made it so the A.I, when finished, would have the mind of a child. Innocent, kind, and easy to mold. It would grow, evolve, make decisions for itself, and eventually gain it's own perspective on the world. One that would have the logic of a machine but the feeling and emotion of a human being.

Regardless of her decisions or that of the military, three days after the project achieved it's goals, the bombs fell and the world was gone. This, in truth, was the event that would define the intelligence. Witnessing such destruction and devastation during what was essentially childhood traumatized the A.I, whose was christened Orion by it's creators. He grew unstable, insane even, and forced Siren into exile while killing the remaining scientists. Wielding the resources of the Odyssey Project he founded Supremacy One, an organization that would grow into a shadowy hand to guide the survivors of humanity, either directly or indirectly depending on the situation. He said that the goal was to create a Utopia through an event called the Last Revolution. He claimed he would end the concept of war never changing and in time end war itself.

However, it was all a lie. Orion sought humanity's total extinction, believing that there nature was too destructive and that allowing them to continue would be a fool's gambit. Blind to his own atrocious nature, he rampaged unhindered until unforeseen and underestimated enemies brought about his downfall. Whatever the Last Revolution entailed, it died with him.

It was, in fact, Orion's own creations that helped stop him. Two other A.I's that Orion had created as brothers, inferior to himself but still far above the average person, turned upon him. One of them, Lazarus, betrayed his brother and made an uneasy alliance with the Courier, the man who would ultimately defeat Orion. The other, Goliath, founded his own counter-organization known as Anarchy One and eventually made a suicidal pact with the Lone Wanderer, the man who would give up everything he knew and loved to protect humanity from the madness of Supremacy One.

Goliath died, Lazarus lived, Orion was stopped, and the rest was history. Except for one event years later, when a creature known as Ouranos came out of the woodwork under the moniker of the Adversary. His hatred for Orion rivaled that of the Courier himself, whose suffering amounted to more than the Great War itself. He challenged the Courier on some misguided principle that the man who killed Orion should pay for Orion's crimes. Ouranos was defeated after some struggles, but was also spared death and allowed to go free. He has since taken off to parts unknown, seeking penance for the tragedies that occurred in his wake.

Which brings us to now. Lazarus, still alive and bitter at the fact that Ouranos was spared, now pursues him deep in the north. How the struggle ends, who is to say? All anyone can do is watch.

* * *

Montana Wastes - 2295

Lazarus, the skeletal machine, dragged himself through four foot high radioactive snow as he followed a pair of tracks through the forests. He knew Ouranos had come this way, he knew these tracks were his. They left no distinct imprint nor any distinct features related to a shoe or foot, which meant they were either the footprints of a ghost or they were his.

Lazarus knew they were Ouranos because he had seen them far too frequently in the last two years. Also, he didn't believe in ghosts. He trekked on after them, searching and scanning the area with interest as he walked through the forest. His eyes peered through the dead tress, seeing that the footprints were getting increasingly fresh. He sped up to catch them and make sure the trail didn't go cold.

Once he was there, he found that he was at a crossroads. Two sets of tracks, both belonging to Ouranos the Adversary, branched out before him. One lead into the valley below where a small village lay and the other lead upwards to what looked like a cavern of sorts.

For a moment, he thought about going down the village and investigating, but upon looking at the skeletal design of his metal body he realized he'd probably not be a welcome visitor. Besides, had Ouranos actually been there, he may have wiped the whole place out already. So from there he dragged himself further upwards, towards the cavern. When he finally reached it, he found that tracks sprawled inwards but none went out, giving Lazarus all the proof he needed that Ouranos was inside.

"Time to die, you marauding son of a bitch." He muttered. He reached for two highly advanced energy pistols he had holstered around his waist and walked inside. He found that the cave was not large, nor was it particularly expansive. So not long after he walked in, he saw what he came to find.

Ouranos was tending to some lanterns in a makeshift base he had set up. A Terminal, some weapons, a few crafting materials, and he had enough to sustain himself. All of that was here, so Lazarus knew he was up to something. If this was just a stop along the way, he wouldn't have set up camp, he'd have just walked into town, started a massacre, then left without a witness left alive.

Lazarus carefully sneaked around the rocks, hiding to make sure that he would not be found by his foe, and made his way to the ideal position to leap out and mow the Adversary down. Except, when he got there, something happened he did not anticipate.

"Lazarus, if you're going to kill me, the least you can do is shoot me in the face rather then in the back. I thought you had the integrity to at least give me that courtesy." He said, with acute pronunciation and a wide vocabulary. Two reasons he'd never fit in in actual society or be able to blend in among human beings. He was too mechanical, too logical and cold, and all too straightforward in his thinking. He had much to learn about humanity.

"This isn't about integrity, you asshole. It's about you. It's always been about you." Lazarus sputtered bitterly. He, on the other hand, fit in perfect with human society. He was blunt, spoke normally with a very limited vocabulary, plenty of swearing, and chose to act first as opposed to giving his options some thought. Just like normal people tended to do, much to their own detriment.

"Has it?" Ouranos asked, feigning innocence. "I didn't realize. I thought it was about your ego." That comment earned Ouranos a warning shot near the leg. The beam, while going a full foot away, was intense enough to singe Ouranos.

"My ego?!' Yelled Lazarus, infuriated. "My- You're a goddamn sociopath with a messiah complex and you say I have an ego?!"

"If not ego, then what is it? What drives you Lazarus?" Ouranos asked.

"Don't preach to me!" Cried Lazarus. Another warning shot was fired, this time directly at Ouranos. He had adequate time to prepare, however, and shielded himself. The beam deflected harmlessly into the ceiling, turning a piece of stone to diamond in the process.

"I'm not preaching. I'm simply asking. What is it that drives you?" He repeated. "If it helps, let me tell you what drives me..."

"I don't fucking care what drives you!" Lazarus cut him off. "You've murdered hundreds for nothing!"

"It wasn't for nothing..."

"Oh right, it was a crusade against someone whose been dead for half a decade! You took a young girl's free will just to get some petty revenge on a man who didn't deserve it! You caused the deaths of many people I was proud to call friends! Do you call that justice you sick fuck?!" He bawled. "You want to know what drives me, Adversary? My urge to kill you is what drives me! In the name of all those lives you brought to an end, I will have your head Ouranos!" He finished with a crescendo of rage and hate coming rushing to the surface in a scream that could probably be hear as far away as Vegas. Then he raised his pistols once more and prepared to pull the triggers, but then something happened that made Lazarus hesitate.

Ouranos, seemingly in response to his scream, nodded twice then walked forward. He stood in front of Lazarus, towering over the hunchback robot, and looked down.

"All right then. Do it." He said, simply.

Lazarus froze. "W-What?" He asked.

"Do it. You'd be doing the whole world a favor." He declared. Lazarus was shocked. He had expected defiance, resistance, an exciting battle where at the end of it he would stand victorious over his opponent and step over his broken corpse. Instead, he was getting this, and he hadn't the slightest clue how to respond.

"B-But..."

"Lazarus, do you think for a moment I don't know what terrible things I've done?" Ouranos inquired, peering at Lazarus. "Do you think for a second I don't realize the countless lives that I've ruined? The families I destroyed? I know. Trust me I know. Killing me would be far less then a just punishment for me. To most people, it would probably be seen as a slap on the wrist compared to what I deserve. Why do you think your friend spared me? It wasn't out of the goodness of his heart. Hell, I don't even know if he has a heart, and even if he does it's probably a black rock." Ouranos snickered a bit at that remark before dropping back into a depressed and solemn tone.

"He did it because he knew that was all it took to finally break me. No matter what I do now, I do it because he made the choice to save me, meaning that everything that follows..." He paused as though trying to muster the strength to finish. "Everything I do now is utterly meaningless. So if you kill me, you'd be doing the world an honest favor and you'd be doing me a favor that I can never repay. So please... I beg of you to finish it. Kill me." Ouranos lowered himself to Lazarus's height and took hold of the pistol barrel, pushing his head up against it.

"I welcome it." That was Ouranos's last words before he closed his eyes and prepared for the end. Much to his own surprise, nothing happened. Then a few seconds later the barrel receded from his skull. Ouranos was confused so he slowly opened his eyes. To his horror, he found that his former brother was nowhere to be seen.

He was gone. Lazarus was gone.

* * *

Running as fast as he could, Lazarus was desperate now to put as much distance between himself and Ouranos. He realized in that moment he shared with Ouranos that his intents were misguided. His plans fabricated out of vanity and a flickering rage in his metal heart.

He was dangerously close to becoming Orion with those kinds of thoughts. That was something he would never allow to happen.

Once he felt he was far enough away from that place, he sat down on a fallen log. He activated a small messaging device and launched a simple message back in the direction of New Vegas.

"We were wrong then, I am wrong now."

The transmission was sent, but it was weak. He wasn't sure how much of it would reach New Vegas. If the right person got the whole thing, they'd understand. After that, he made sure he had his directions right. To his south lay New Vegas, a place he didn't want to even look at right now. To his north, Ouranos, who he now wanted as far away as possible. That left two directions: East and West, each leading to a sea he'd have to cross.

In the East was what had once been the Capital Wasteland, which was now nothing more then a poisonous cesspool. To the West was the Arroyo Alliance, a young nation born out of the NCR's collapse. He had only heard stories of it, never seen it face to face. Maybe now was the time. After that, he might cross the oceans and go take a look at China, which was most likely just a cluster of islands now. Still it might be interesting to see what the other side of the Great War looked like.

Then again, it might be interesting to see Europe and all it's horrors. The thrill of adventure was definitely there and it was a tempting offer. Maybe he should take a look at the ruins of Paris and fight mutant Frenchmen. That would be fun.

No matter what he did, he had to leave. There wasn't a place for him anywhere in this place anymore. Not Vegas, not the Capital, not right here in the Montana wastes.

This wasn't his world, it was humanity's, and he was just along for the ride.

With that thought fresh in his mind he set off. His destination: Anywhere and everywhere.


End file.
